BOOK: Clara Schumann – The Artist and the Woman (2001)

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Clara Schumann: The Artist and the WomanYear: 2001Author: Nancy B. ReichLength: 385 pages For a talented woman like Clara Schumann, she usually played a major role in biographies of her husband, Robert, or their mutual friend, Johannes Brahms. This was not the case in Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman, which took the complex life of this virtuosic pianist and made all its parts focus on Clara. If anyone ever wants to learn about the fascinating life of this woman, this is the book to read. While the biography of Clara’s daughter, Eugenie, had lots of useful, intimate information about Clara’s later life, this book fully explores all phases of Clara’s life. From her time under her father to the drama of Robert’s courtship and the eventual life as a widow who still had to support a sizable family, this book breaks down each of these life moments in a thorough way that helps tell her story. Of course, her life...
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BOOK: The Schumanns and Johannes Brahms (1991)

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The Schumanns and Johannes BrahmsYear: 1991Author: Eugenie SchumannLength: 217 pages In performing research for my own historical fiction book, I've read a lot of books about Clara Schumann and the Schumann family. Some of these biographies have been about Robert Schumann, and others about Clara herself. The Schumanns and Johannes Brahms was one of the more interesting books I read, as it is technically a memoir of one of Robert and Clara's children, Eugenie Schumann. As such, this memoir had a unique flavor from the biographies I had been reading. Of course, as Robert had died while Eugenie was quite young, this was a section of the memoir that was not possible to expand upon. It would have been interesting to get more of a sense of how Clara and Robert acted around their kids, but such is the tragedy of this life cut too short. Fortunately, the focus of my research was Clara Schumann, and this book had details in spades....
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BOOK: Schumann – The Faces and the Masks (2018)

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Schumann: The Faces and the Masks Year: 2018 Author: Judith Chernaik Length: 773 minutes / 12.83 hours When it comes to biographies of famous artists, it can be difficult to separate their life from their life’s work. It is fascinating to understand the influences of an artist, especially when in the context of their creation. However, much of the ability to talk about the artist’s life depends on common knowledge of their artistic portfolio. For slightly more obscure artists, finding the balance between discussing their personal life and providing an explanation of their art can be a challenge. Schumann: The Faces and the Masks attempts to cover both Robert Schumann’s life and his musical pieces. While revealing some of the more interesting secret codes in Schumann’s music in this book, the moments discussing the songs in detail seem to derail the whole narrative of the biography. Schumann’s life was fascinating enough as it was, with the drama involved in his marriage to Clara Wieck, as...
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